Distraction
by Clare Spradley I
Summary: Riley Matthews has had a crush on Lucas Friar since seventh grade but he has yet to reciprocate. After a few years, she realized she needed a distraction but nothing could permanently distract her from him. Companion to Attractive. Sort of Rucas.


**AN: Hello again! So this story is based off of my first fanfic Attractive and takes place between Chapters 7 and 8. If you haven't read that story yet, I of course recommend you do and let me know what you think! Also, it might make this one-shot a little confusing. Most of this story is written from Lucas' point of view but this is a look into Riley's mind after the events of Chapter 7 occur.**

 **Favorite and review!**

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" _Riley, what's wrong?"_

 _"_ _Nothing's wrong. Now could you please leave me alone?"_

 _"_ _Not until you tell me what's wrong."_

 _"_ _Nothing's wrong!"_

 _"_ _Did he do this to you?"_

 _"_ _No, I just ran into a street lamp."_

 _"_ _Okay, he might have thrown a punch or two but he's stressed and has other things to worry about than me. I'll be fine, okay? I know a remedy that can get rid of this."_

 _"_ _Lucas! Move!"_

 _"_ _No. I don't care how busy or how stressed anybody is. They don't take it out on somebody else, especially you!"_

 _"_ _I'm a big girl! I can take care of myself!"_

 _"_ _Clearly not."_

 _"_ _What's that supposed to mean?"_

 _"_ _It means if you had a shred of common sense you would have dumped this guy a long time ago."_

 _"_ _Lucas, you don't even know him! He's a sweet guy when he wants to be! He has his flaws, yes, but who doesn't?"_

 _"_ _Okay, fine. I'll let you get the stuff you need if you promise me something."_

 _"_ _Sure."_

 _"_ _Can you please consider my offer about being friends again?"_

 _"_ _Fine, I'll think about it."_

 _"_ _Thank you."_

 _"_ _Good night, Lucas."_

 _"_ _Good night, Riley."_

Riley Matthews pranced up her stairs to her bedroom. It was very, very late indeed and she knew no amount of coffee was going to be able to get her though tomorrow. She was happy she got to see Dylan again but was getting a bit frustrated she had to make this mask as often as she did. Why did she have to bruise so easily?

As Riley entered her bathroom and mixed up the ingredients for her mask, she thought about the conversation she had just had with Lucas Friar. He was once the only thing that ever crossed her mind and he was beginning to take major occupancy again. She didn't want to think about him at all tonight but she knew she wasn't going to be able to help herself.

She first met him on the subway right before her first day of seventh grade. Her best friend, Maya Hart, had pointed him out to her and she immediately felt butterflies in her tummy and put a smile on her face that even she knew looked silly. He was by far one of the most attractive people she had ever seen that was her age. His hair was short and dark blond, his eyes a bright shade of green and his skin was a handsome shade of tan. He was still a boy but she could tell he was going to be a heartbreaker one day.

They became great friends throughout their time in middle school. She had felt like her crush on him was one sided for a long time but then around eighth grade she started getting hints that he may like her too. After talking about this with Maya and Farkle, she decided to confront him about it. She expected him to say he loved her and wanted to be with her forever and they would be boyfriend and girlfriend and then get married and have beautiful little babies together. However, that's not what happened at all. It turns out her crush on him was one sided after all. She was heart broken and she knew he felt badly about it but looking back, she was glad he told her the truth.

There were several more times when she thought he was developing feelings for her and she would try again and again with at least an ounce of hope that he would respond the way she wanted him to. Unfortunately, it never happened.

He started dating once they were in high school. In fact, all of her friends started dating when they were in high school so it only made sense that she should start dating too, right? She became very interested in a new boy named Charlie around their sophomore year. He had just moved to New York from Tennessee and had a certain southern charm about him. He was really very lovely and his handsomeness rivaled Lucas'. When he asked her out, she of course said yes. It was all going well until he changed. He was always angry at her, he was never faithfully to her and he had a tendency of pushing her around. They dated for six months. She never had the heart to tell her friends, but he was the one who broke up with her. He said he was too angry with her for god knows what and couldn't stand to see her anymore. Her friends had made their dislike of him pretty obvious as had her parents so she stayed in her room and cried silently to herself for the night. The next day at school, she told her friends she broke up with him and was able to put on a brave face that seemed convincing even to them.

Riley only dated Charlie because he was the only person who was ever interested in her. Lucas had dated probably half the school by the time freshman year was up and Maya had boys drooling over her. Even Farkle attracted the attention of some girls as he got older and grew into himself. Riley was the only one who never felt like she mattered so when someone came along and seemed to like her for who she was, she stuck with them for as long as she possibly could.

That was probably the only reason she was with her current boyfriend Dylan right now. That and she wanted to change him. She wanted to turn him from the thug he was into a proper gentleman but he never seemed to want to. She wasn't exactly giving him etiquette lessons but she wanted him to look and act a little more professional. Any time she brought this up, he would lash out and hit her. She hated it but it's not like she had a line of guys just waiting to date her. She was the least attractive and most awkward of her friends and she knew it. She was also unbelievably stubborn and believed in the impossible. She felt like one day she would talk to Dylan about being more professional and he would listen. She would have snagged him up before anybody got the chance.

Riley was fairly convinced that she wasn't going to see Lucas again for a long time after they graduated high school. They texted and talked on the phone after he moved back to Texas but it started to become less and less often as time went on. At first Riley was a little sad Lucas seemed to have forgotten about her but then she met Dylan at NYU orientation and she had a distraction.

Her parents mentioned that Riley should invite Lucas over for Christmas if he was interested and she had only texted him asking once, to which he had responded he already had plans. That's why she was so surprised to see him standing outside her bedroom door a few days ago.

Maya and Farkle had outdone themselves with their level of scheming. All it really took was a mistletoe under the doorway for Riley's feelings for Lucas to come back in full force. He kissed better than any other guy she had ever been with and she really wanted to do as much with him as she could. He was gentlemanly enough to back away when things got too heated and they went to sleep.

She couldn't help herself for the rest of the time he was here. When he stared in awe at the horse with the prince and princess on it, she couldn't help but to walk up to him and put her hands over his. If her mother hadn't have knocked on her door, she probably couldn't have helped herself from kissing him again. She couldn't help wanting to go to the art museum on Christmas Day with him and smiling and blushing at him when he came up to her and held her hand. She couldn't help but mention the field one of her friends had been to with their boyfriend when he said he didn't want the night to end. She couldn't help but snuggle closer into his chest when he pulled her close to him. She couldn't help but cry uncontrollably when he said he didn't want to be friends anymore because the Lucas she was with during the past few days was the best thing that had ever happened to her.

Now she was forced to make a decision she didn't really want to make right now. It was almost three o'clock in the morning for heaven's sake! She wanted to sleep but the only thing that seemed to be on her mind was Lucas Friar.

He really was one of the best friends she could ever ask for. She promised herself when she first told him her feelings and he didn't respond, they would still be friends no matter what. Granted she was only fourteen at the time but she always knew how she felt about him. She knew he still cared about her. He wouldn't have gotten so upset earlier tonight about her black eye if he didn't care about her anymore. Yes, he lived far away now but they did still talk. It wasn't nearly as much as it used to be, but there is something to be said for living in the same city.

On the other hand, Riley wasn't sure Lucas realized how much he had hurt her in the past. When he would tell her 'no', she would try to brush it off. She was pretty sure he saw through her but she didn't know if he knew just how much he had hurt her. It wasn't all so bad her first few times, but Riley was pretty sure she fell in love with him around sophomore year of high school. After that, it was all down hill. He might as well have shot her in the chest. Then, after all of that, Riley was just expected to walk away and pretend like it was no big deal. Riley remembered studying about the soldiers in the Civil War who had to be amputated. They would drink some kind of alcoholic beverage until they were drunk and numb and then they would cut off their dysfunctional limp. The pain when they became sober was still there but for the "operation" the alcohol was just a distraction. That's what Riley realized she needed, so she got a distraction by the name of Charlie.

But Charlie seemed just as effective as the alcohol did. Riley did not feel any pain or remorse about Lucas when she was with Charlie but when he wasn't there, it hurt just as much as it did before. She wanted this pain to go away as quickly as possible so she started hanging out with Charlie more and more often, even when he would treat her badly or push her away.

Dylan was, in a way, another form of alcohol. When Lucas left for Texas, Riley was heartbroken. She continued to talk to him and he did promise he would try to come up for a holiday but she also knew he was very, very busy. It made her sad that she couldn't talk to him whenever she wanted to anymore. She and Maya were still as close as ever, but Riley found she liked a little variety in her life. Sometimes she would like to talk to Maya, sometimes to Lucas, sometimes to Farkle, it just depended on her mood. Riley hated not having Lucas waiting on her like it seemed he used to. When Riley would find herself crying to sleep at night, she knew something had to change. She saw a boy eyeing her at orientation and went for it. This boy made for a good distraction, a good numbing alcohol, until Lucas returned for the holidays.

Lucas was like the ultimate sobering medication. No matter how drunk she got on some other guy, he could always throw her off her game. She absolutely hated it. She just wanted to be happy for once. She wanted to forget about him and just live the life she wanted with Dylan. She had talked to all of her friends about her feelings towards Lucas and they had all helped but nobody could force him to like her, no matter how much she wished they could.

Riley stayed up tossing and turning in her bed all night long, trying her best to go to sleep, but the sandman never came. She was going to be awake until she finalized her decision on this. Around five o'clock, she made up her mind. All romantic feelings aside, Lucas was one of the best friends she had ever had. She knew she always had to keep her friends close to her. Lose one friend, lose all friends, lose yourself.

Riley Matthews was not going to lose herself. She was going to be friends with Lucas Friar again.


End file.
